Detective De Luca

Comprising four feature-length episodes, this compilation of the engaging Italian RAI-TV series (broadcast in Italy in 2008) is based on mystery novels and characters created by reporter/author Carlo Lucarelli. Detective De Luca (Alessandro Preziosi) is a no-nonsense, bicycle-riding, top-cop type (his dad was a police officer killed in the line of duty) who is seen on the beat for a 10-year narrative span (1938–48) falling during and after the reign of Mussolini and World War II. Although he is avowedly apolitical (only interested in solving cases), De Luca is repeatedly drawn into war-related violence and power plays among fascists, Communists, and Christian Democratic Party members. At one point he even saves Il Duce's life, making De Luca an accidental national hero to some and a target for partisans (including a provisional constable who spares De Luca in exchange for expert help in solving the slaying of a popular village elder). De Luca also gets to romantically frolic with a number of enticing femme fatales (and the nudity here is fairly frank). The mysteries, which take place in Bologna and along the Adriatic coast, often seem to be on the murky side (especially the finale), but usually turn out to be basic crimes of passion and greed that due to the dangerous backdrop only wind up resembling depredations of the Nazis, Black Shirts, and their opponents. A welcome international TV drama, this is highly recommended. (C. Cassady)